The introductory notes relating
to the "History
of the Jerome Studio chain"
have come to me from two sources:

Dennis Garrett, son of Albert
H. Garrett. Albert Garrett, working in conjunction
Colonel Bertram Gale, expanded Colonel Gale's existing small
photographic studio business until it eventually, under the name
Jerome Studios, included branches throughout the UK and
beyond.
Photographs supplied by Dennis Garrett are Ref: DG in the paragraphs
below.

Nick Whittall (and his father
Richard). Nick is the great grandson of Colonel Bertram Gale
and has supplied me with several photographs of the Gale family.
Photographs supplied by Nick Whittall are Ref: NW in the paragraphs
below.

Using (mostly) Dennis Garretts'
own words:

Colonel Bertram Gale founded
Gale Studios shortly after WWI and these initially operated
on a limited scale until, in 1928, Bertram met Dennis's father
Albert H. Garrett, whose company commenced constructing and manufacturing
all the equipment and fitting out new photographic studios under
the name of Jerome Ltd.

But Note Below: Gale Studios seem to
have had their origins from around 1910.

Information from Peter Stubbs
(who runs the 'EdinPhoto' site; see below) taken from the
book by Gillian Jones entitled "Lancashire Professional
Photographers, 1840-1940", suggests that some Gale Studios
were in existence at least as early as 1916.

The 1911 census already
lists Betram's ocupation as a "Photographer" and as
an "Employer". So it seems that Bertram Gale was involved
in the photographic trade from the earliest decade of the 20th
century.

David Simkin, an amateur photo-historian with his
own website "Sussex
PhotoHistory" devoted to photographers who were active
in East and West Sussex during the Victorian and Edwardian period
(see below), has e-mailed to tell me he has evidence that Bertram
Gale was operating a number of photographic studios in London
and the Provinces as early as 1910 or 1911.

Dennis Garrett with
his father Albert H. Garrett, taken in 1952 at the Garrett factory
(see below, left) where Jerome cameras and equipment were designed
and manufactured. It was at the end of this same year that Dennis
permanently left England (Ref:DG)

By 1930, Jerome Ltd had absorbed
all the previous Gale studios and within ten years there were
Jerome branches throughout the country, plus Paris and Amsterdam.

Customers expected that their
photographic portraits would be processed while they waited or
they could call back a short time later. Using paper
negatives and reflected light enlargers considerably reduced
the operating costs in providing such a service. Jerome Studios
were thus able to offer a (fairly) high standard of photography
and at the same time keep the costs well within the reach of
most people. In consequence, Jerome became a household name.

Jerome also produced roll
films (see below) in the standard sizes for cameras of the day,
and these 'Jerome Spools' also produced opaque paper (not transparent
celluloid) negatives. This meant that the negatives could only
be printed by Jerome. The developing & printing of customers
rolls of films (and all other special procedures) was carried
out at Jerome Developing & Printing at Bovay Place, Holloway,
London, N.7. Customers could leave their films at any Jerome
studio and collect the finished results from the same Studio
a day or two later.During the 2nd World War, because the UK Government
saw Jerome Studios as a morale booster, they were able to continue
receiving photographic material supplies, and catering to the
greatly increased business. Soldiers and their wives, or sweet
hearts, wanted to swap photographs before being parted.

By the end of the 2nd World
War, some branches had suffered air raid damage and needed reparations
to continue business as usual. Then, several new branches were
also opened with Dennis Garrett's architectural designs which
engendered the post-war look and seemed to attract even more
customers.

Although a dynamic business
man, Dennis found Colonel Gale to be very kind and generous,
exerting a rather avuncular influence over him.

In 1954, due to his distaste
with the British post-war governments, Dennis' father, Albert
Garrett, moved his UK holdings to South Africa, where he continued
in the construction and engineering business.

Despite a board of directors,
Colonel Gale was the "dynamo", which became apparent
after his demise, when Jerome fell upon hard times until sold.

The letter below (made
available by courtesy of Dennis Garrett) was sent by Bertram
Gale to Albert Garrett in May 1948, when the latter was in S.Africa
but due to return to the UK.
Notice the list of Jerome Directors, at the top left hand side.
Bertram and Albert were on very cordial terms and the use of
the surname in the opening "Dear Garrett" is just the
way close male friends often addressed each other at that time.

This is the Garrett
Building in London, photographed in 1950. It was also the offices
of Jerome Ltd. until the end of the war (1945) when they moved
to (No.26; Ref:NW) Dorset Street, London, W.1. (Ref:DG). The
address of 26, Dorset Street appears on the above letter heading.

This is the Jerome
paper negative for the 1950's image shown alongside.
Although requiring novel reflected light printing equipment in
pre-digital film photography days, such negatives can now be
easily printed by scanning them into a computer, reversing the
negative scan to a positive using software, and printing out
the result using a normal ink-jet printer. (Ref:DG)

At the time when Jerome Ltd
used the Garrett Building as their Head Office, its postal address
was:
182, King's Cross Road, London, W.C.1.

The same building is now (2014)
occupied by a branch of 'Honest Burgers'.

It stands at the corner of
King's Cross Road and Pentonville Road.
It has the postal address of 251, Pentonville Road, London, N1
9NG.

Colonel Bertram
Archibald Gale with his wife Jennie and their 3 children;
Dorothy born 1903, William Edward born 1908 and Violet (right)
born 1905. (Ref:NW)
David Simkin believes Bertam was born in 1881 and died in 1962.

Bertram Gale's parents;
William Isaac, born 1854 and Elizabeth, born 1859. (Ref:NW)

Bertram Gale in uniform
~ The Queen's Bays Cavalry. (Ref:NW)
This photograph is believed to date to dates from around 1905.
As can be read at the base of the photograph, it was taken at
Barnes studio at 172 Arkwright Street, Nottingham.
This Studio was apparently only in business between 1904 and
1907 (Ref: David Simkin).

This was "Heatherwold",
Colonel Gale's estate in Esher, Surrey, England. Photographed
in 1946.
Colonel Gale sold this Estate in the late 1940's before he moved
to Kingston House, Kensington. Upon visiting him in Kensington,
Dennis discovered that it was so exclusive that members of the
acting and entertainment professions were not permitted to reside
there, irrespective of their fame. (Ref:DG)

1947 - Colonel Gale's
yacht, the M.Y.ROMA, berthed on the Thames near the Houses of
Parliament, London, which perhaps is an appropriate example of
his influence in political circles. (Refr:DG)

Jerome Studio premises,
Paris, in 1949, with the Branch manager posing with a friend
of Dennis Garrett.
Although the manager was a simple looking Englishman, he was
a man of considerable courage who faithfully operated the Studio
until the Germans were at the 'gates' of Paris (1940), compelling
him and his wife to drive south until reaching safety in Spain
and Portugal. (Ref:DG)

Another of Betram's
yachts, M.Y.Judith. (Ref:NW)

Was
there ever a Mr Jerome ??

Dennis Garrett isn't sure,
but thinks possibly not.

He says:
"When my father and Colonel Gale first met, Colonel Gale
was already operating his studios under the name of Gale. To
the best of my (Dennis') knowledge, there was a Jerome Studio
which Colonel Gale purchased and he later changed the name of
all his studios to Jerome over the period of a few years. During
this time he developed a symbiotic relationship with the Garrett
companies which lasted for over twenty five years".

"I don't think
there was a man named Jerome involved. It may have come from
the Anglicized version of Gerome (Jean-Léon Gérôme
the famous artist)".

Gale's
Studios ~ before Jerome

The following
information relates to the formation of Gale Studios

David Simkin runs
a website on 'Sussex
PhotoHistory'.
David says "I believe that Bertram Gale was operating a
number of photographic studios in London and the Provinces as
early as 1910 or 1911. Attached is a scan of both sides of a
cabinet card portrait dating from around 1912 (see below). You
will notice that Gale lists Five branch studio addresses;
Two in London (Clapham and Lewisham), One in Southampton,
Two in Portsmouth and "Elsewhere" (perhaps to
signify that other studios were in the process of construction
or planning)."

A young lady named Nellie, perhaps
photographed so she could send Christmas greetings to her parents.

"Wishing you both a Merry
Xmas. Love from Nellie"

We know from the portrait of
Bertram Gale in his Queen's Bays Cavalry uniform (see above),
which David Simkin dates to around 1905, that Bertram is unlikely
to have been running his own photographic studio at that time
or he would have had (most likely) his photograph taken at his
own premises. Instead he chose to use Barnes studio at 172 Arkwright
Street, Nottingham. Barnes was apparently only in business between
1904 and 1907 (Ref: David Simkin).

In Kelly's Post Office Directory
of London Suburbs, published in 1911, Bertram Archibald Gale
is listed as a professional photographer with (already) studios
at 62 St John's Road, London, and 134 High Street, Lewisham (these
Studio addresses can be seen in the list on the reverse of the
cabinet card, shown above).
The 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Hampshire also records
Bertram Archibald Gale as a photographer at 179 Commercial Road,
Portsmouth, but at this date Bertram Gale had not acquired the
premises at 7 Kingston Road, Portsmouth, or opened his branch
in Southampton, both of which are listed on the reverse of the
above picture. Hence, the above cabinet portrait must post-date
the publication date of the 1911 Kelly's Directory.
The Lewisham branch of Gale's Studios, which is listed in 1911,
is not listed in the 1914 edition.
From the above, it is reasonable to agree with David' Simkin's
deduction that the above cabinet portrait dates from around 1912.

Considering all the above,
it seems that Bertram Gale most likely began 'Gale Studios' sometime
between 1907 (before Barnes studio seemingly closed) and 1911
(when he already had two of his own studios in London and also
one at Portsmouth). Hence, a 'round number' best guess for
when Gale Studios was first formed, is 1910, but it could
have been a year or two earlier.

The photograph to the left
was perhaps taken at the outset of Bertram Gale's photographic
business career. Notice how the footer refers to just "Gale
& Co. Photographers" rather than "Gale's Studios",
as in the c1912 print above.

The print alongside belongs
to Richard Ford who tells me "I have been trying to date
a photograph of my wifes great grandfather, William OShea".

"William is standing and
wearing a bowler hat. His brother is sitting next to him and
has 2 chevrons on his arm which represent Good Conduct Badges
in the Royal Navy i.e. between 8 and 13 years service so, after
studying his RN service record, the photograph can be dated between
1905 and 1910".

"William OShea was
living at 34 Victoria Street in Portsmouth which was off
Commercial Road and Gale Studios was conveniently located at
179 Commercial Road (see my text above). The photograph
was taken in 1909 or 1910 after William had served on HMS Lapwing
and was stationed at the Victory I, Portsmouth based,
shore establishment".

Information from Colleen Ireton
extends the address range for Gale Studios to a date around 1918.
The reverse of the picture shown to the right contains a list
of the Gale Studios at that time. Colleen believes the picture
is of her Grandmother, Mary Smith, with her Aunt Margaret. Interestingly,
there are no longer Gale Studios listed in London or Southampton.
Presumably something to do with WW1 caused these studios to close.

The Gale's Studio Ltd photograph
below belongs to Denise Schramm, now in the USA but originally
from Leicester. She believes the proud young man in uniform is
her grandfather or her great grandfather (depends on date).

The address side of the postcard
is shown right.
It lists the same 13 cities as on the reverse of Colleen Ireton's
postcard (above) though without the additional mysterious 'Black
& White' studios. So perhaps this postcard pre-dates Colleen's
and was taken either at the start of, or during, WW1.

A photograph of a proud
coal miner and his son, relatives of Margaret Pernavas. She and
her sister have allowed me to show this picture. Margaret believes
it dates between 1916 and 1927.

The reverse (right)
shows it was taken at Gale's Studios, 54 Market Street, Manchester.

Dave Makin has
e-mailed (August 2010) to tell me of one of his family photographs
printed on a Gale Studios postcard, taken in November 1924. That
picture (of his mother aged 5 months, being held by his grandmother)
also bears the logo "Branches Everywhere". He knows
that the picture was taken at the same Liverpool studio, on the
London Road, that subsequently became the Jerome Studio illustrated
lower down this page. Since Peter Stubb's information (see below)
tells us that the Gale Studio on the London Road 'disappeared'
after 1924 and the address was subsequently only occupied by
Jerome, Dave Makin's picture was presumably taken in the last
year that the name Gale Studios was in use in Liverpool.

Maybe one of the last Gale
postcards used for his prints.

The font and logo layout looks
much more modern than any of the above.

Possibly dating from the late
1920s or 1930 ?

The following
information relates to the re-naming of Gale Studios into Jerome
Studios

The dates of the Gale and Jerome
Studios in Peter's list generally confirms the information from
Dennis Garrett. The Gale Studio dates pre-date those of Jerome,
with the changeover being around 1928-1930, though some Jerome
Studios existed as early as 1920. Also, notice that two Gale
Studios (at least) operated from 1916, which pre-dates the "post-WW1"
timing that Dennis Garrett believes was the founding of Gale
Studios.

Gilian Jones' book reveals
that both companies had Studios in Liverpool and Manchester.
Not unexpectedly, considering the information (above) that early
Gale Studios later converted into Jerome Studios, the names of
these two Studios often shared the same address:LIVERPOOL
- Gale's: 1916-24: 17+29, London Road
- Jerome's: 1920-37: 17 London Road
- Jerome's: 1938-40+: 17 / 19 London Road

'Spools', as rolls
of film were universally known at that time, were available to
the general public from Jerome Stuidos, but had to be returned
to Jerome for developing and printing due to them being paper
based, rather than the more conventional (transparent base) celluloid.
Dennis Garrett (see his opening history above), and the print
envelope from Grace Bricknell (see below), both tell us that
the place where the public's developing & printing (D&P)
was carried out (i.e. not the printing of studio photographs
~ those were processed by staff on the premises where they were
taken) was at the Jerome Ltd Photographic Works, Bovay Place,
Holloway, London, N.7. Its postal address was Jerome, Ltd; D.P.
Dept; 416 Holloway Road, London N.7.
Bovay Place seems no longer to exist, but may have been near
where The Nag's Head Shopping Centre is now located.

The pictures show a 120 size
'spool', expected to produce 8 exposures, each 2.25" x 3.25".

The print envelope (see below),
gives some details of the cost of the Jerome service in (approx.)
the 1930s.

This 127 Jerome film, as used
in cameras such as the (Kodak) Brownie 127, taking 8 pictures
each 1&1/8"x1&5/8" (28.6x41.3mm), appears to
be much later than the 120 spool shown above.

Notice that the box printing
appears more modern and the contents are now referred to as a
'film' rather than 'spool'.

It possibly dates to the 1950s
or even the 1960s.

Geoff Welding has provided me with this small booklet "The
Knowledge Of The World Within" (price 2d = near 1p).
It is a 32 page compendium of "Useful Information in
Concise Form", interspersed with pictures taken within the
various Jerome departments at 416, Holloway Road, London, N.7.
It isn't dated, but seems to have been produced in 1933.

Notice that the above
text makes clear that Jerome were the first to offer postcard
sized enlargements as standard from 'small' roll film negatives.

They presumably achieved
this by saving overheads, since their studio business was also
based upon supplying postcard prints (and larger). Also, there
was cost-cutting and customer retention achieved by selling paper
based roll films that (virtually) only Jerome could print.

Alongside are shown the front
and back views of a Jerome film mailing envelope (9x4.5inches;
229x114mm), as sent to me by Clare Ash, a retired pro-photographer.
She found the envelope amongst her father's possessions.

The back of the envelope reminds
users to "Enclose your Name, Address and Instructions (then)
Stick Fast."

A Jerome advertisement offering
their developing and printing (D&P) services to 35mm film
users.

Taken from Amateur Photographer
magazine dated 23rd July 1952.

It is curious that only 35mm
is mentioned, without a similar mention of roll film. But its
possible that Jerome's roll film D&P services were already
well known and this advert was to announce that their D&P
service was now also available to 35mm film users; effectively,
this was a new venture. Since 35mm photography was gaining momentum
with the photographic public, with low cost 35mm cameras becoming
available, perhaps Jerome saw this as a market they could no
longer ignore.

Mass use of colour was still
10 years away (in 1952), so at this time 35mm cameras were still
very predominantly used with black & white film.

Jerome
Print Envelopes and Price Lists

This Jerome print envelope was sent
to me by Grace Bricknell, on behalf of her mother, Janette Foster
(d.o.b. 4th January 1913), from Prestwick in Scotland.
Its date is unknown, but looks to be the late 1920s or 1930s.
It is early enough that it doesn't use the eventual Jerome slogan
of "Branches Everywhere" nor even claims, as on the
spool above, "Branches Throughout Great Britain".

The prices are very similar
to the prices originally charged by the fledgling Gratispool
company when they first started their 'free film' service.
Both Jerome and Gratispool used paper negative film (not transparent
celluloid) to reduce their costs and (in the case of Gratispool)
make viable the giving away of a 'free' film (though Gratispool
then charged 6d, 2.5p, to develop it). Jerome charged 6d (2.5p)
for one of their film 'spools', but developed it for free (rather
than charging 3d, 1.25p, if they developed a film supplied from
elsewhere).

The added advantage for both
companies of supplying a paper based film was that few d&p
organisations had the facilities to print from paper negatives
(requiring reflected
light enlargers), so the paper negatives 'locked' customers
in to using Jerome (or Gratispool) printing services.

Notice that the Jerome envelope
claims "The Originators of The Postcard Print From A
Small Negative", possibly a statement to remind users
that Jerome were offering postcard sized prints as standard from
small, roll film, negatives, before Gratispool.

This Jerome print envelope
has been sent to me by Ruth Brown who told me it belonged to
her mother and was found when she was clearing her mum's belongings.
"Most of her childhood photos were taken at a Jerome Studio
in Cardiff, South Wales".

The style and length of the
dress on the woman gracing the front of Ruth's envelope (compared
to the envelope above), plus the fact that prices have gone up
significantly, suggest that this enevlope probably dates from
at least the late 1930s and may be from the 1940s.

Jigsaw Puzzles
from Customer's Own Photographs

An amateur photographer's photographic
'snap' could be turned into a 100 piece Jigsaw puzzle via the
Jerome organisation.

Jerome would have sub-contracted
the manufacture of the Jigsaw once they had produced the print.
Its uncertain who would have mounted and boxed the picture and
the finished jigsaw, though the box colour is the Jerome traditional
red, as is the stick-on printed label.

The box bears a hand-written
note (see final image, lower right for a close-up) indicating
that the picture was taken on Causey Pike (637 metres =
2,090 ft) in the Lake District, some 3miles south west of
Keswick, in the UK county of Cumbria.

The date on the note can be
clearly seen to read August 1936 and celebrates the forthcoming
engagement of two of the people in the picture, named Raymond
and Joyce. One wonders what happened to Raymond post-1939, with
the outbreak of WW2.

The picture was taken by a
lady named Pat, who was part of the group walking the Cumbrian
Fells. Having finished her film spool, she might have taken it
for development to a Jerome Branch in Keswick, or more likely
waited until she got home and put the film (spool) into her local
Jerome Branch, wherever that was. When she got her prints back
she would have selected this one to become a jigsaw, maybe as
an engagement gift.

The lady to the left appears on
the front of this French Carte Postale. Date is 9th
July 1931. The vertical logo is the same as Jerome's but
Jerome is spelt with an e acute i.e Jérome, and the text
above it translates as:
"Outlets everywhere in England, Holland, America, France
and Belgium".
The text where the stamp would be affixed translates as "Jerome
Studios".

Adriana Borst

Thomas Borst

Jerome's Netherlands
(Holland)

Alongside are photographs
sent to me by John Griffin who owns the clipper sailing ship
named (now) Vrouwe Antje. An order was placed for the
clipper's construction by Thomas & Adriana Borst in September
1900 with the ship builders "D. Boot", Alphen a/d Rijn.
The ship was originally named "Samuel".

John received the Jerome
images alongside from the grandson of Thomas Borst (also named
Thomas). The grandson told John that Thomas Borst died in Weesp
on 25-12-1939 and Adriana died on 06-01-1949, also in Weesp.

Since Thomas Borst
was born in 1873, it is likely these photographs were taken at
the earliest time of Jerome Studios, in the latter 1920s.
"Jerome's Van Londen" presumably means "Jerome's
of London".

Below is a
compendium of affectionate recollections relating to Jerome Studios
in the UK, that have come to me from many, many people.
They include pictures of my own parents & siblings taken
at the Jerome Studio in Wolverhampton during the 1930's.

Mr Fleet, Manager of
Jerome in Liverpool until retiring a few weeks after Geoff Welding
arrived in 1960. Geoff believes Mr Fleet came from Wolverhampton
but lodged quite near the Jerome's Liverpool premises. Geoff
says "I think his first name was Gordon - not that
anybody addressed him as such !" Miss Clancy,
the long serving Manageress, became overall in-charge when Mr Fleet
left.

Geoff Welding (see RHS) has recounted
how, when he left school in 1959 (aged 16), he worked at the
Jerome portrait studio in Liverpool, at 17-19 London Road,
staying until the end of 1961. The following account of working
for Jerome, and many of the following pictures, are courtesy
of Geoff.

Further down the page, the
'Girl on a Table' Jerome shot is one owned by Geoff (though not
taken by him). Another picture made available to me by Geoff,
and one he actually took while at Jerome, Liverpool, is of the
famous UK entertainer Bruce Forsyth (scroll down to view).

"Most Saturdays over 400
people would be photographed. I used an exposure of one or two
seconds at f6.3. The 'Jerome' paper negatives could be retouched
using a HB pencil and a final print made available in 1½
hours; if it was for a passport, a 40 minutes service could be
requested."

"The enlarger was rather
like a wardrobe without the doors. The tungsten reflected light source was permanently
fixed in the top and the baseboard moved up and down, like an
adjustable shelf."

A young Geoff Welding,
aged 17 in 1960, with one of the Jerome shop assistants.
The photograph was taken by delayed action with a 1sec. exposure
on a 2¼"square bellows film camera. No flash - hence
the pose. Geoff recalls that the shop area was about 6X bigger
than what appears in the photograph.

Within a few months
of joining Jerome, Geoff became studio photographer when a senior
colleague left.

Ken Rose also worked at the
Jerome studio on London Road, Liverpool, but pre-dates Geoff
Welding by having worked there during 1947 to 1949, before starting
his military service with the Parachute Regiment.

To the right are pictures of
Ken in 1948 and then in 1950 in his Parachute Regiment uniform.
Ken is now (Oct. 2010) aged 78. Both pictures were taken at the
Jerome studio.

Ken says that Miss Lance was
the manageress during the time he worked at Jerome, Liverpool.
The main photographer was Mrs Sprung & her sister was the
shop manageress. Miss Dorothy Wright was a sales assistant and
trainee photographer.

Ken did some of the Developing
& Printing, though the main printer was named Fred (but Ken
forgets his surname). Jean Hall was the re-toucher.

Ken printed the picture far
right (taken by Mrs Sprung) of the Hobson family. Alf Hobson was Liverpool's goalkeeper at
the start of the 1936-37 season. 90-year old Alf Hobson passed
away peacefully in his sleep at a hospital in his native County
Durham in 2004.

The picture immediately to
the right is of Ken's aunt and uncle, Mr & Mrs Thomas, taken
in 1932. Ken believes this photograph was taken in the Salisbury
Branch of Jerome.

Considering the picture below,
of the Jerome premises on London Road, Liverpool (now demolished),
Ken recalls that the little square window above the shop sign
was the staff tea room.

The picture alongside shows
the Liverpool branch of Jerome in 1953 at Nos. 17 and 19 London
Road, Liverpool.

David Leyland has been in touch
to tell me that he has seen the same photograph but in a form
where he can see that the film being played at the Odeon, opposite,
was Return to Paradise starring Gary Cooper, released
in 1953.

Geoff Welding recalls the frontage
being painted bright red and wonders if all Jerome studios were
this colour ?

The picture is taken from a
book entitled "Living Memories of Merseyside", containing
photos from the the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. This photograph
was taken by Keith G Medley who retired in 1987.

The photograph shows a tram,
such as ran in Liverpool until 1957, though they were being phased
out years before that.

Liverpool Jerome right-hand
shop window looking from the road, decorated for Christmas
1961. Geoff comments "as you will see, no expense was
spared, or more likely no expense was allocated, for Jerome's
Christmas decorations. Just some baubles & some tinsel".
The interior of both windows was mainly covered with a bright
red flock paper, which could have been wallpaper (by its thickness).

The display photographs would
have been customer's prints that had been enlarged or copied.
This was done elsewhere (though presumably still within the Jerome
organisation). Ordinary prints, as along the bottom of the window,
are priced at 6d each (2.5p). The mounted enlargements seem to
be priced at 1s/6d and 2s/6d (7.5p & 12.5p). The larger prints
were always mounted, the dry mounting press being heated by gas.

Reflected in the window is
the Odeon cinema, possibly showing the first James Bond film
"Dr No". This film was shown for a long time and always
there were queues for performances.

Courtesy of Geoff Welding and
the miracles of Google street mapping, we can see the London
Road site of the Jerome Studio, Liverpool, as it now exists (post-2000).
One half of the Studio (No.19 ?) has been demolished, leaving
the vacant lot that can be seen left. An art exhibit called "the
chairs" was installed into this space in 1995. Although
it would be nice to think that "the chairs" represent
a photographic 'sitting' in the previous Jerome Studio, Alan
Dunn (one of the srtists responsible) tells me this is just fortuitous
coincidence. He didnt discover the Jeromes heritage
until a few years after "the chairs" were installed.
For more on this topic, see the text below this picture.

For a picture looking across
the road from these chairs towards the Odeon, being demolished,
see here.

The public house next door
can be seen to be "The Lord Warden" (currently No.21)
and Geoff believes this was its name in 1961 when he worked at
Jerome.

Alan Dunn has been in touch
(October 2016) to tell me that he is "one of the two artists
(the other was Brigitte Jurack) who made the chairs
in 1995. Their story is told on the webpage at http://alandunn67.co.uk/theballadofrayandjulie.html
with the title "The Balad of Ray + Julie". Alan had
just moved to Liverpool in 1995 when the opportunity to make
"the chairs" came up - the building on the other side
of the plot was the Furniture Resource Centre at the time.

The chairs are now over 20
years old but due to be removed later this year (2016) as the
Council have informed Alan that the plot has been sold to a developer.
Alan muses "Lets see what's next for the site!".
He is hoping a blue plaque might be affixed to any new structure
to inform people of "the chairs" and perhaps Jeromes.

The space where Jerome's (Liverpool)
once stood is not just the space occupied (now) by the "two
chairs" in the view above. A new building has been constructed
in the left hand side of the original, wider, plot. This building,
"Shop to Rent", takes up part of the old Jerome site.

In the 1950's, Jerome's Liverpool
had a double window of equal size and a door in between the two
(see the black & white London Road picture above).

Medici on this site says "I remember it (Jerome
Studio) was demolished in the early 90's when the Major (John
Major ~ Conservative) government attempted a hamfisted regeneration
of the area under the city challenge scheme. I was up there today
and the lower end still looks like a bloody shambles and it seems
that year in, year out, nothing is ever done".

Commenting on
the type of camera used at the Liverpool branch, Geoff has provided
the following description, though warns it is now over 45 years
since he was at Jerome so the details must necessarily be incomplete
or at least a bit sketchy.

"I do not remember seeing
the manufacture's name on the camera but it was well made, wooden,
probably Teak, with a front brass hinged double baseboard and
square bellows. The lower base board was attached to the tripod
and the rear of the upper base board (hinged at its front edge
to the lower baseboard) could be raised by about 35 degrees,
so the camera could look down on the subject. This arrangement
was mainly used for looking downward on babies who were laid
on their backs or stomach on a table top covered with a blanket."

"The Mahogany tripod was
a very Victorian affair. Alongside is shown one of similar appearance
(but not identical) from an 1892 photograph. An approx. 8"
(200mm) diameter wheel, with a handle, racked the central column
up and down and would have been quite at home in a waterworks
of the same period! Three curved piano stool type legs ran on
casters and consequently a good shove was needed to get the camera
and tripod on the move."

The tripod illustrated, left,
apart from not having casters, has its own tilting baseboard,
whereas the Jerome camera had two hinged baseboards (see description
above) which provided means to tilt the camera downwards. Hence,
the Jerome tripod didn't need the tilting top.

"The camera back had a
focusing screen of approximately 3.5X2.5 inches. Part of the
camera back revolved (rather like that of a Mamiya RB67) enabling
portrait or landscape format. Having focused on the subject with
a brass wheel and rack arrangement the Teak plate holder would
be inserted into wooden grooves in the camera back which would
then push the focussing screen further along the grooves. The
plate holder had then taken the place of the screen and you would
be ready to take your first photograph having pulled out the
dark slide.

One plate holder was big enough
to take three exposures by moving the plate holder further along
the grooves each time (though taking three exposures of one sitter
would be frowned upon by the branch manager and, if it occurred
too often, might be reported to the Regional (?) Head Office
in Wolverhampton)."

"A brass clip would slot
into the holder making sure it was aligned for the next photograph.
The orthochromatic paper 'film' that the plate holder contained
(supplied by Kodak when Geoff was working for Jerome) would be
9X4 inches (an estimate) and the paper was much more sensitive
to light than Bromide printing paper."

Although Geoff knows that Jerome
received Kodak orthochromatic paper 'film' stock during his employment
in the 1960s, it is unknown where Jerome sourced their paper
film during much of the previous 40 years. Members of the Stead
family, whose father founded 'Gratispool',
believe Gratispool received its paper 'film' from an organisation
called 'Criterion' prior to World War 2, but received supplies
from Kodak post-1945.

"The shutter was a sprung
flap within the bellows and attached to the top of the camera
back. This was operated by an actual bicycle back brake cable
attached to a brass release that operated in the same way as
a bicycle brake. When you squeezed it together the flap would
open towards the top of the bellows and then close quickly with
the aid of a spring on releasing."

The 1892 illustration alongside,
from the book by Dr Josef Maria Eder, shows a sprung flap shutter
operated by a pneumatic bulb release, but the 'shutter' is external
to the camera, in front of the lens, not within the camera's
bellows.

"The bicycle
back brake cable release was attached at the rear end of the
camera but was long enough to still allow me to walk in front
of the camera and, with my right arm at full stretch, I could
get close to the sitter and expose the film. Other Jerome photographers
preferred to remain behind the camera whenever possible, but
I preferred the 'up close' position, even for passports."

10th Dec.1929 Jerome
Studio photograph; a Christmas greeting to her relatives? Three
prints would have been supplied.
(viewed here, courtesy of Geoff Welding)

Geoff Welding continues:

"The lens was a Dalmeyer
f5.6, with a focal length of 9 or 10 inches. We had ours set
at f6.3 and I would give at least a 1sec exposure but preferably
longer if I was confident that the sitter would not move or was
not just about to blink. A long square metal lens hood was attached
to the lens by three screws with knurled heads so you could tighten
or loosen the screws with your finger tips. I think these excellent
dark red lens hoods were especially made for Jerome Studios as
I have never seen any since."

"Using this equipment
I often made 500 to 600 exposures on a Saturday. Fortunately
there were many passport photographs required and the customer
could be in and out of the studio in under a minute even though
they may have queued for an hour. The biggest problem was very
young babies. Some must have come straight to Jerome's from the
maternity ward (!) and getting them to keep perfectly still for
even a second was difficult. However with the aid of a squeaky
toy the photograph was eventually taken, though by then four
minutes may have have passed. Saturday queues often stretched
around the large waiting room, into the shop and out the door
onto London Road, as also occurred at the Market Street branch,
Manchester, in the 1960's."

"A squeaky toy was a valuable
piece of photographic armory when dealing with young children,
and also when photographing dogs. Some of the dogs were quite
fierce and accompanied by their well tattooed owners. A double
piano stool was set up and the owner, with his dog, would eventually
be both sat down. The dog was held from behind by the collar
and on many occasions would be barking and trying to stand up
on the stool, but his owner's multicoloured arm would be pressing
down hard on the dog's back."

"I would
approach, brass cable release in one hand and rubber squeaky
bear toy in the other, but hidden behind my back. When I was
close, I would give the unseen squeaky toy just a small squeeze.
The sound from the toy would stop the dog barking as his attention
was now on listening to the squeak and wondering where it had
suddenly come from. Then I would produce the toy near the dogs
face, squeezing it as hard as I could just beforehand. As the
rubber toy reformed to its original state, a long high piercing
note would be emitted for four or five seconds. The dogs head
would lean over to one side and maybe the owners as well, so
that both heads would almost charmingly touch. Most importantly,
both became motionless and looked towards the still squeaking
toy. I would step back out of camera shot and squeeze and hold
open the shutter release for a second, or hopefully two. Job
done !"

Left is a very young Bruce
Forsyth, as photographed by Geoff Welding in the Jerome Studios,
Liverpool, believed to be 1961. Geoff recalls Bruce coming into
Jerome's in a bit of a rush as he had just discovered that his
passport had expired and he was about to leave for America. Miss Clancy,
the Jerome Studio manageress, brought him to the front of the
waiting queue and told Geoff to "photograph Mr Forsyth next".
The film was rushed through to the darkroom and 'all the stops
were pulled out', including negative retouching, to have the
picture ready in less than 30 minutes. "I do not think he
was particularly pleased with the photograph as I heard him make
some remark about it, but at least he had it and could take it
to India Buildings in Liverpool and collect a new passport".

Bruce
Forsyth was born Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson in Edmonton,
North London, on 22 February 1928. He made his television debut
in 1939, singing and dancing on a talent show. He aspired to
be a 'song-and-dance man' and began his professional career aged
14. The next sixteen years were spent perfecting his routines
until, in 1958, he was thrust into the limelight as host of the
ITV variety show 'Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium'.
He served as host between September 1958 and September 1960,
and from September to December 1961. These appearances made Bruce
a household name. The 1960s saw Bruce largely concentrate on
his stage career, though he did appear in a sporadic run of comedy
specials made for various ITV companies, under the title of 'The
Bruce Forsyth Show'. In 1971 his fame was sealed when he became
compere of the Generation Game (BBC, 1971-77), which became a
UK phenomenon and attracted audiences by the million.

The picture alongside is of
Anthony (Tony) Beyga taken at the Jerome studio in Liverpool
around 1958. Tony emailed to express his sadness that so little
remains from that time and how so many of the photos will have
been lost forever.

Notice the Jerome name 'handwritten'
(probably photographically printed) logo name in the bottom picture
margin.

Another baby portrait from
the Jerome studio in Liverpool. This handsome chappie is John
King, as he was in 1955. The chair looks to be the same one that
Tony Beyga was sat on for his picture, 3 years later (see
above and notice the shell shape behind the cushions).

Interestingly, he tells me
his mother worked in Jackson's the tailors, next door to the
Odeon cinema, just over the road from Jerome (see street views
higher up this page).

Left can be seen an e-bay purchase
by Geoff Welding of a Jerome Studio sepia toned picture of a
woman named Nellie. It came from the Scottish Borders, taken
sometime in 1931.

On the back of the photograph
is written "With love from Nellie" and below that "Feb
1931" all in fine pen handwriting. The Jerome branches logo
is there (scroll down to see a picture of this logo, left hand
side of the screen) but there is no date stamp, which is a little
surprising.

Right is a 1933 photograph
from a Jerome Studio, purchased by Geoff Welding from someone
living in Montesano, on the west coast of the United States,
not far south of Vancouver. The vendor advertised it as being
British.

It is particularly interesting
because it has a back-drop different from any Geoff had previously
seen used in a Jerome studio. Presumably this young man will
have served in the 2nd World War and one wonders how life turned
out for him.

On the subject of
colour photography,
Geoff recalls that 'true' colour photography (i.e. the use of
negative colour film rather than sepia 'toning' or hand colouring ordinary black & white
photographs) arrived at the Jerome Studios in the early 1960s,
requiring the installation of new, more powerful, lights. A 1,500watt
and two 1,000w bulbs were housed in square metal enclosures painted
mid-blue with tracing paper covering the aperture. The 1,500w
would be screwed to the right or left wall then a 1,000w was
placed centrally, above the subject. The second 1,000w was placed
on the opposite side wall to the 1,500w. The only light that
could be moved was a condenser spotlight which is believed was
an old 750w. After the introduction of the new lights, the lighting
was slightly 'flatter' than before (in the modelling sense).

But fewer than half a dozen
customers per week selected true colour pictures, as it was a
comparatively expensive service. Geoff believes the cost was
12s/6d (62.5p) for an enlarged print. This cost equates to about £10 on a retail
price index comparison, or £21 on a comparison based upon
average earnings (comparing 1962 with 2006). The colour prints
were processed by a separate organisation, away from the studio.

But eventually,
as the 1960s progresssed, the cost of colour photography would
have decreased (in real terms) and inevitably became more commonplace.
By the end of the 1960s it might well have become the 'norm'
at Jerome Studios.

Amanda, on her blog page, writes:
"This picture has been used on a scrapbook page so it's
not a great scan, but there is a story behind it. I telephoned
my mum and she can't remember exactly when it was taken, but
she thinks I was around three years old (so 1969-ish)
and it was done at Jerome Studios in Manchester. Apparently,
I am clutching that little doll with the big hair because, on
the way to the studio, I had fallen over and smacked my mouth
on the kerb so my dad bought the doll to shut me up. I am wearing
a stylish pink number in man made fibres with co-ordinating trim
created by my mum too!"

As well as working at Jerome,
Liverpool, Geoff Welding also spent some time (during the early
1960s) at the Jerome Studio in Manchester, as a relief
photographer during the staff's summer holidays. "It was
even busier than the one in Liverpool". It was located in
a basement. "The shop entrance was close to the junction
of Market St and Fountain St, about 20 yards or so from
the junction. At the top of the descending stairs there was a
small display of framed sample photographs."

Geoff can't recall exactly,
but presumes the Jerome sign would have been above the entrance
and then the stairs would have led down to a shop counter, with
the studio beyond. "There was a small waiting room between
the two. Customers would be queuing on these stairs on Saturdays
and at the same time others would be leaving or collecting photographs.
So the width of the stairs had to accommodate the comings and
goings and might have been 6feet wide."

On the subject of Amanda's
colour print (above, left), Geoff says "I was surprised
to see that the background was just a plain off-white, as the
usual background looked quite good in colour. The plain white
background was on casters and would be pulled into place behind
the sitter for Visas and passports, but not much else when I
was at Jerome's."

Robert Humphris e-mailed to
say that he remembers the Jerome Studio at Liverpool,
on London Road. Robert was photographed there with his gran and
a family friend around 1940 (see picture, left). He says "The
tale was that I was in London Road with my gran when there was
a dogfight between a German plane and one of ours and we went
into the Studio for safety and this photo was taken."

Robert believed the building
to the RHS of the Jerome Studio in Liverpool (see picture near
the top of this page, left hand side) was 'The Clock' public
house, "where I had many a happy night when I lived in Liverpool
as a teenager", but it seems it was actually 'The Lord Warden'.

Another picture provided by
Geoff Welding. He says:
"These young woman worked at Jerome's on Market Street,
Manchester in 1961.
I photographed them with my WW2 Speed Graphic 5X4 inch film camera
with a f7.7 Ektar 8 inch lens, I still have the camera (Nov 2011),
but not the lens.
These assistants mainly worked in the shop but were very capable
of taking over the photography when the manager went for lunch."

Geoff thinks that the Manchester
manager was a Mr Hallet but could be wrong about this. Around
1975 Geoff believes Mr Hallett had opened his own Studio
on Oxford Road, Manchester, producing portraits and passports,
but years later this business was sold and Mr Hallett no doubt
retired.

The pictures below
have come to me from Pat Miller, who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada.
To the left is a Jerome photograph of Pat's Great Great Grandfather,
Alexander Cunningham (1849-1935), who was born in Edinburgh,
Scotland. In 1872 in Edinburgh, Alexander married Margaret Lee
(1850-?). Margaret was born in Northumberland, England. Together
they had one child born in Scotland, but by 1875 the family had
moved to London, where they had four more children.

Alexander was an artist in
stained glass and according to the 1911 census, at that time
they were living at 13 Princess Street, Rusholme, Manchester.

The Glengarry cap that Alexander
is wearing in his photograph (left) suggests that he had spent
time in a Scottish regiment of the British Army, probably around
the time of the 1st Boer War. The photograph is believed to date
to the 1920s (judging by appearance, he seems to be in his 70s).

Notice the unusual
way of writing the Jerome name and logo on the lower right hand
corner of the card mount which displays Alexander's picture.

Pat's second picture shows
Alexander and Margaret around 1930.

In the bottom right corner
there is text which reads Portraits, Jerome Ltd.,
131 Market Street, Manchester". This corner section has
been enlarged and can be seen here (to the right). The text contrast
has been raised to assist with legibility.

Its possible both of Pat's
pictures were taken at the same Manchester Jerome Studio, as
the chair in use by the woman in the picture to the left looks
to be the same as the one used as a prop in the picture above.

Lynne Harding
has sent me some interesting pictures (below) relating to her
Grandfather, Captain A.J.Thomas, MBE. She says:
"He is the gentleman on the left of the photograph but I
am not sure who the other gentlemen are!"
The Jerome date stamp on the rear of the photograph, which also
shows the Jerome "Branches Everywhere" entwined logo,
reads January 1930.

The photograph
is contained within a Jerome folder (see right) which is stiff
stitched card and has a motif of a knight and shield embossed
on the front (see below, right, with an enlarged view below that).
Inside is printed a 1930 calendar with the words "Jerome's
BRANCHES EVERYWHERE". Lynne expects the photograph to have
been taken either at Cardiff, South Wales or possibly
Porthcawl, South Wales.

Lynne's Grandfather was a sea
captain sailing out of Cardiff Docks. He came from Newport, Pembrokeshire
and was Captain (among other vessels) of the Maindy Court
UK cargo ship (built 1917).

Captain Thomas was mentioned
in dispatches in WWI and was in the RNR (Royal Naval Reserve) in WWII. He was
awarded the MBE by King George VI in 1942 for coolness
and bravery in face of repeated machine gun attacks on his ship
(SS Porthmorna) by a German bomber, as a result of which the
raider was destroyed.

Some more naval heroes below,
this time photographed in the Jerome Studio in Hull, believed
to have the address: 16, Whitefriargate, Hull.

Carol Bramhall has sent me
these photographs of her father, Sidney Arthur Kerslake, in 1939
(below, left) and in 1941, when he was in the navy. He served
in the Arctic Convoys and wrote a book about his experiences,
a part of which can be read online at http://www.naval-history.net/WW2Memoir-RussianConvoyCoxswain.htm.
The photo with Sidney in uniform was taken in 1941, when he was
on leave in Hull.
Carol says "I think the other man is one of his uncles,
but I am unsure which one, it could have been Cyril Young, his
mother's brother."

"The photos would all
have definitely been taken in Hull as his family were all from
there. They were all from a fishing family prior to the war."

Notice the Jerome name
in the right hand corner, enlarged below.

Notice the Jerome name
to the left hand end, enlarged below.
Its possible the crown insignia was used by Jerome on photographs
of people in their armed services uniforms.

Carol Bramhall continues:

"William Edward Young
(shown to the left) was my father's favourite uncle.
He was killed in Dunkirk during WW2 at the age of just 29.

I find genealogy and history
interesting and if it helps to inform others, this is always
a good thing."

The reverse of this photograph
of William Young is the usual Jerome postcard, with its vertical
central intertwined branches and logo 'Branches Everywhere' (as
in the examples below).

The 32, Ferndale Street
(Cardiff) address, on the reverse of the Jerome postcard (above),
was where David White's Uncle Ted was living, with his wife Phyllis,
at the time this photograph was taken.
Ted was was aged 26 at that time.

Three brothers, David, George
and Fred Gregory, taken at Jerome, Cardiff, in 1928. These pictures
were sent to me by David Gregrory White, living in Australia.This
site suggests Jerome in Cardiff was located in Queen's
Street.

David Gregory White tells me:"There were six brothers and three sisters in the Gregory
family, my Mother being one. Of the three boys in the photo,
David was killed in WW2 aged 25 (I was named in his memory),
George was in the RAF but survived and emigrated to Canada, where
he passed away in 2007. Fred, whom I knew well as a boy, passed
away in 2005. The recipient of the photo, my Uncle Ted, died
in 1997.
My Mother was the longest lived of the nine Gregory children,
aged 94 when she passed away in 2007. They were Welshmen and
Welshwomen who lived through the turbulent 20th Century which
included WW1, the great depression and WW2. What a generation
it was.David's cousin, Caroline O'Callaghan (in France) has, together
with David, been researching the Gregory family history and David
asked me to include her name in respect to her efforts.

The
photograph far left shows Mabel Hunter (taken believed c1955)
who worked at the Jerome Studio in High Street West, Sunderland
post-1935 until 1959. She did negative retouching and hand-coloured
black & white photographs using Velox water colours.
For more about hand colouring photographs, see my web page here.

Information about Mabel has
come to me from her grand-daughter Patricia (Patsy) Beech, who
tells me Mabel's photograph (hand coloured, almost certainly
by Mabel herself) is still kept within the original blue folder
it came in (left). Patsy says "It must be really good quality
to have lasted so long in such good condition; it still shines
with a pearl effect".

Patsy has a collection of photographs
that belonged to her grandmother who sadly died, aged 100, in
1999. Some of these show the Jerome Staff at Sunderland. Do take
a look and if you recognise anyone, please get in touch, as Patsy
would love to hear from you.

Vic tells me that his mother,
Grace (far left) worked at Jerome's in Powis Street, Woolwich,
S.E.London, from the late 1920s through to the early 1930s.
The photo' of her was taken at the Woolwich Studio in 1929 when
she was aged 19. Grace (surname Ansett at the time) was a 'colourist'.
"Of the many jobs my mother had in her life, she always
said this was her favourite".

Grace hand coloured black &
white photographs, the same job as Mabel Hunter (see above).
The 1931 picture of Vic's cousin, Tony Ansett (right, below)
was coloured by Grace. The middle picture is of Grace's grandmother,
Rosa Hayward, in August 1930, aged 76, also at the Woolwich Studio.

To the right is
a another scan from Vic Coughtrey, which shows the reverse of
the print of his great grandmother (see centre photo' above).
It's dated August 8th 1930.

The same Jerome Logo (left) was scanned
from the back of one of my family's 1930s postcard print, and
states 'Branches Everywhere'.

Another picture (left) taken
at the Woolwich, S.E.London, Jerome Studio. This one is
of Ray(mond) Bird, who was aged around 2½ years when
it was taken on 13th June 1949. Ray tells me several of his family
members were also photographed at this Studio.

Ray is a professional photographer
with his
own website, where some samples of his work can be seen.

Aunt Tags lived in Ayr, Ayrshire,
so its presumed this photograph would have been taken at a Jerome
Studio in Ayr (though I have not found any record of a Jerome
Studio in Ayr). Its only 40miles from Ayr to Glasgow, so its
also possible it would have been taken in Glasgow (see below).
Since Aunt Tags was born in 1890, its clear this photograph must
have been taken no later than the 1920s.

Although there appears to be
a date stamp on the reverse (right), it's unfortunately illegible
(or not an original Jerome date stamp).

Thanks to Peter Doherty, the
picture to the left is a view of Jerome at 104 Sauchiehall
St, Glasgow in 1934.

Its picture content is described
as "New shop front, Jerome (photographer)."

Peter says "My family
had pictures taken in Glasgow in the period about 1936, so that's
why I was interested."

Above the window display, and
down the right hand side of the window, the sign tells us "3
postcards 6" ie. 3 postcard sized prints for 6d (2½p).
But.....if you look closely, a "½" has been
inserted into the closed loop of both of the 6 numerals,
suggesting the price had been raised to 3 postcards for
6½p, an increase of 8%.

An interesting
email has come from Jude Anstice telling me how her grandfather,
(John) Jack Milne, worked for Jerome Studios in London from around
1930 and later in Newport, South Wales. Jack was originally from
Jarrow but spent time in Australia from the age of 14 (in 1924)
until he was aged 18 (in 1928). When he returned to the UK, he
lived in London and worked in a Gentleman's Club for a while,
which is where he met his wife to be, Jude's future grandma.
Jack began working for Jerome around 1930, maybe 1932, at The
Strand branch, London. He worked both as a darkroom technician
as well as a photographer, taking people's portraits.

Jack Milne (bamb)
Jerome Studio, London, 1930s

Jude says "My grandfather
(affectionately known as 'bamb') was a beautiful man and good
with the story telling". He would tell Jude about the laughs
he had and the work he used to do; he knew all the photographic
chemicals - not just the liquids, but also all the powder compounds.
"I was always impressed with this
knowledge since I never learned such detail even when doing a
(photographic) degree!" Jack used to experiment with the
lights when the studio was having a slow day. There was a skylight
window which was also used on occasions to give a more realistic
lighting effect in combination with the artificial lights. Jude
says she always thought her grandfather looked like Humphrey Bogart, the actor (see small picture,
left), as she has photographs showing her grandfather wearing
a trilby hat and with a cigarette between his fingers. Jack told
Jude how he and his colleagues often tried to imitate Hollywood
portraits, as many people asked for that sort of image.

Jack Milne moved to Newport,
South Wales, with his wife and children (Jude's mum and her sisters)
when many children were being evacuated from London in 1939,
at the start of WW2. Jack worked for Jerome in Newport
for a time, until 1940, but then joined the armed forces. After
the war he was offered a job again with Jerome at Newport, South
Wales, but being a true gentleman did not want to take the job
away from the young woman who would have lost hers if he had
taken up the offer, so he ended-up driving a 'bus for a while.
Photography however was always something Jack loved and he was
fascinated when Jude ultimately took it up as her profession.

Jude closes by saying "I
am sure my 'bamb' would be happy for you to mention him on your
website; he always loved to hear about technical developments
and I am sure he would approve of the Internet". You can
see some more of Jude's photographs of her 'bamb' and of the
staff of Jerome Studio, Strand, London, by clicking here,
including some taken on a Jerome seaside outing "sometime
during the 1930s, maybe at Brighton or Eastbourne (?)".

Jerome, 33 Victoria Street, Derby (1950s)

Altie Bacon (see his 129 roll film web site) recalls,
around 1950, buying 129 roll film for his Ensign E29 blue box
camera and later for a Krauss Rollette, from Jerome's in Manchester
and in Derby. He tells me they also had a branch at Southend-on-Sea.
Although their main business was a Portrait Studio, they processed
films as a subsidiary activity. This site reports "According to Maxwell
Craven (Keene's Derby, 1993, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202),
Jerome Limited had premises at 26 Victoria Street, Derby,
between 1929 and 1949, though Kelly's 1932 trade directory gives
the address as 33 Victoria Street".

Dorothy Wilmot has e-mailed
to tell me she worked at Jerome in Derby for many years
in her youth during the 1950s. She has confirmed that the address
was definitely 26 Victoria Street (in the 1950s) by sending me
a copy of the picture alongside, found in a magazine on Derby
memories. She had already recalled it was on the corner, near
the Woolworths store which was numbered 17-24. "There was
only one (Jerome) shop (in the 1950s)".

She joined as a dark-room assistant,
but after a while she worked in the photographic studio itself
on a Saturday "because the manager at that time went to
the pub' on a Saturday, as soon as he had some money, and with
the customer queue for the studio filling up the stairs, someone
had to take over". She goes on to say "the manager
was a brilliant photographer, even when he had had a few (drinks),
and he took time to show me many things, so that I took over
often".

"I also did hand colouring
(of black & white photographs) using oils and a match stick
with cotton wool on the end". "I also remember how
newly arrived black immigrants liked to send home a photograph
showing them with paler skin than was the truth, so the retoucher
would pencil in the negative!"

Pat Bishop has
e-mailed with information about the Jerome Studio in Leicester.
"During the war I was the assistant to the photographer
(who's name escapes me) but Miss Bradley was the manageress of
the studio. The photographer broke her hand and I was trained
and took over photography after being assessed by some people
from London/Head office. I was only 16/17 years of age at the
time. I remember taking passport photos of German POW's and wounded
Italians. I also completed all the normal photography of children
and families until the return of the original photographer from
the war." Pat believes Jerome in Leicester was on Granby
St or maybe London Rd. Gerald Springthorpe confirms it was on
Granby St, "or at least it was when my Mother took
me to have my photograph taken in the early 1950's. It was opposite
the 'Picture House' cinema, between Halford Street and Rutland
Street."

Information from
Rootschat.com is that there was a Jerome
studio on Lower North St, Belfast and at 34 Martineau
Street, Birmingham (Ref: Kelly's directory for 1940). "Martineau
Street ran from Corporation Street to High Street, opposite the
News Theatre." There is uncorroborated comment that Jerome's
in Birmingham may have been on Union St. prior to Martineau St
(?).

Another Jerome
Studio was at 71 Grainger Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Thomas Gordon has e-mailed to tell me that they not only took
passport photographs but also the ones needed for Merchant Navy
identity documents. Thomas began home developing and printing
in 1952 and remembers his local chemist, Graham's Pharmacy
in the West End of Newcastle, stocked the necessary chemicals
and paper.

There
was another Jerome Studio in Newcastle, at 119, Northumberland
Street, confirmed by this website.

Robert Best remembers having
his "passport photo for my university union card taken at
Jerome Newcastle, Northumberland Street, in 1966, which was very
well known at the time".

This link shows a passport photograph taken
by the Grainger Street, Newcastle, Jerome Studio on the 24th
March 1964. To view, scroll downwards to the entry dated Photobooth
Friday, January 26th, 2007. Geoff Welding, who found this link,
comments that "the front cover on the passport folders were
plain in 1960" rather than the mottled red cover which can
be seen on the link page. The Jerome portraiture 'bag' (upper
left) donated by Geoff Welding, was in use during the early 1960s.
It measures 7½"x5½" (190mmx140mm), easily
large enough for a half plate print (6½"x4¾").
though more likely used for several small passport prints contained
in a card folder, as in the link at the start of this paragraph.

The National Media Museum has web pages which
refer to a Jerome Studio in Bradford during the 1930s
and shows photographs taken there in 1938.

Below is a Jerome 3-fold photograph
display folder with an embossed 'bird flying over scenery' cover
design. Although only made from stout card, the folder looks
very elegant. It is sized to take a postcard sized print, some
3½"x5½". The bird and scenery seem to
be hand coloured and this may have been an 'extra' for the more
discerning customer, possibly supplied in the 1920s or 1930s.

The handsome young man in the
green Jerome folder opposite was photographed at an unknown Jerome
Studio on 3rd February 1937.

The name Jerome can be seen
to the lower right of the photograph and the photograph itself
has 'Jerome' printed on its reverse, together with the stamped
date.

The above picture
of a little girl with an unusually mature face, possibly taken
on her 2nd or 3rd birthday, is stamp dated 12th November 1948
on the reverse of the Jerome folder mount.

A Jerome postcard with the
message "From Mildred 25/2/30".

The postcard is dated just
one day earlier on its reverse, 24th February 1930.

One can imagine her excitedly
returning from the Studio with her postcard picture, all set
to send it to someone - her parent's perhaps, if she was at boarding
school, or maybe a favourite friend or relative. But not as a
postcard, apparently, as there is no address or message on its
reverse.

Mildred would have become a
mature woman around the time of the outbreak of World War 2,
so one hopes she didn't suffer any heartbreak as a result of
that conflict.

Is she still alive and did
she have the fulfilling happy life she was looking forward to
while posing in the (unknown) Jerome Studio all those years ago
?

This postcard scan was sent
to me by Jane Hutchinson, who is studying part-time for a PhD
within the Transtechnology Research Dept at Plymouth University.
She is particularly interested in the use of painted backdrops
and props that appear as curious, sometimes fantastical scenes,
in many of the (Jerome Studio & similar) images. This is
what attracted her to acquiring the postcard shown alongside.

This site discusses commercial photographers
in Dublin, where there was a Gales Studio claiming "Branches
Everywhere" and a S.Jerome, photographer, at 4, Henry
Street, listed from 1951 to 1962-3. This is the only mention
of an initial being applied to the Jerome name. Interestingly,
the same site discloses that next door, at 3, Henry Street, there
was (until at least 1953) a shop run by the Blackpool photographer
Charles Howell.

The Jerome studio in Wolverhampton,
was in Dudley Street, near the junction with Queen's Street
and opposite H Samual, Jewellers (now Ernest Jones, Jewellers).
In the mid-1930s the studio was on the first floor of the Dolcis
shoe shop and was accessed via an external flight of stairs.
There was another (unconnected) studio of the Jerome type in
Wolverhampton in the 1930s, located on the Dudley Road (not Dudley
Street as above), called Studio Banerjee.

My mother has told me how,
in the mid-1930s, at a time when owning a camera was still expensive
for the ordinary working family, she and other family members,
on special occasions, would visit the Jerome studio in Wolverhampton
and pay 10d (4p) for a postcard print, which would be available
within about 30mins of their 'sitting' (though waiting beforehand
in a queue was not uncommon). The 10d (4p) cost of a 'sitting'
and resulting postcard print was not insignificant at that time.
Before getting married my mother worked in a factory and was
paid just £2 per week. When she got married she gave up
her job (customary at that time) and my father (to be) was paid
just £3.20d (£3.08p) per week, though my mother recalls
income tax was very low at that time, just 6d (2.5p) in the £1
(?).

Some of my family pictures
survive and are of good quality. To the left is my father and
mother around the time of their marriage in 1936.

They are dressed in their Sunday
best, alongside a studio prop. The print of my mother (RHS) has
been delicately hand coloured.

The 'misty effect' background
is typical of the type used by (seemingly) all the Jerome Studios.

A Spring 1941 photograph showing
my eldest sister and the brother I never knew - Ronald Arthur,
known as Ronnie - who died aged 22months, 3 years before I was
born.

This picture is a mounted enlargement.
The picture measures 9" by 6.5" and is mounted on card,
as shown left, with the name JEROME on the lower right
hand corner of the outer mount.

All these family photographs
would have been taken at the Wolverhampton Jerome Studio.

But
whatever happened to all these Jerome Studios?

It seems that by the early
1960s, the large, newly emerging, photographic retail chains
were taking an interest. 'The Times' newspaper archive includes
several references to Jerome 1962-1970.

The Times, Friday, Sep
07, 1962; pg. 18; Issue 55490; col FNOW DIXON'S BID FOR
ASCOTTS STUDIOS
Dixon's Photographic. Ltd., which have just dropped out of
the bidding for the Jerome photography business, are to buy
a chain of 12 photographic studios in the London district owned
by Ascotts, a subsidiary of Mellins, Ltd. (formerly Mellins Food). Purchase price works out at
nearly £300,000. Dixon's have agreed with Mellins to make
an offer for all the 450,000 ordinary Ss. stock units of Ascotts
on the basis of four 2s. shares of Dixon's and 30s. cash for
every nine Ascott units-equivalent to nearly 11s. a unit for
Ascott. Mellins will accept the offer in respect of their 98.5
per cent holding, and are selling to Dixon's the £50.000
of 7 per cent preference capital of Ascotts for 150.000 Dixon's
ordinary and £37.500 cash.

The Times, Monday, Nov 18,
1963; pg. 16; Issue 55861; col F
BENNETT CAMERAS
A five-point interim rise to 15 per cent is declared by Bennett
Cameras, but last year's dividend was on smaller capital. The
reorganization following the amalgamation of Jerome Studios
with the Bennett retail group has now been completed. The
18 new branches are trading satisfactorily. Negotiations are
well advanced for the acquisition of several new units, it is
stated. Turnover of Jerome Studios is above the comparative figures
for 1962.

Below is an advert
for Bennett Cameras as appeared in Amateur Photographer magazine
for 26th December 1962.

Lynne Hunter tells
me her father worked at Jeromes in Tottenham Court Rd, off Oxford
St, London, and was there when it became Bennetts back in the
1960s (1963). She remembers her father took a photograph of her
using his stand camera with a black 'cape' over his head, enabling
him to see the focussing scree. He also took passport photographs
of 'pop' singers Dusty
Springfield and Cilla
Black.
Lynne also tells me "I am proud to say that my 16yr old
Granddaughter is studying Photography at college; my Dad would
be pleased". Lynne's father died in 2008.

By the end of the 1960s, the
remaining Jerome Studios were closing down (read below). Doug
Chatham found the above image amongst a box of slides he purchased,
entitled 'Ealing 1969'. Doug astutely saw that "the
shop next to the subject (J&M Stone) is a Jerome Studio and
it is closing down". The close up, shown to the right, has
a hanging sign saying "Jerome Cards" and the shop-front
window has a hand written notice which seems to be saying "Closing
Down - Sat" (Saturday). The fact that it is advertising
"Jerome Cards" and "Book Bargains", suggests
the shop had already tried to survive by diversifying into new
fields.

Reference to 'cards' may explain
the final pargraph below, where the Isle of Wight postcard printer,
J Arthur Dixon, was petitioning for Jeromes to be wound up in
June 1970, presumably in hopes of securing some monies owed.

The Times, Wednesday,
Dec 18, 1963; pg. 18; Issue 55887; col ABENNETT CAMERAS.
Following the reorganization of Jerome Studios with Bennett
Cameras the two factories at Slough have become redundant.
The freehold of the factory has been sold for £41,500 and
negotiations are well advanced for letting the leasehold factory.

The Times, Saturday,
Oct 03, 1970; pg. 8; Issue 57987; col E
Jerome (photographic studios).- Directors requested Stock Exchange
to suspend quotation for ordinary shares until full report of
reorganization of Lynwood Group of Companies, of which Jerome
is a member, can be published. Directors consider that it
would not be in the interest of shareholders for dealings to
continue.

A very valuable snippet of
information comes from 'sospiri - Expert Brummie' on the Birmingham
History forum page here.
The information is that:
"...a Petition for the Winding-Up of Jerome Limited by Agfa-Gevaert
(as creditors for the supply of photographic materials) was published
in the London Gazette on 26th March 1970". "...seems
like they were in the financial quagmire as in June the same
year, J. Arthur Dixon, the Isle of Wight postcard printers, also
petitioned to wind them up. The Liquidator (B.A. Roberts) had
his Final Meeting on 16 April 1973.